I saw The Wild Geese as I do like Richard Harris and Roger Moore and while he is not a favourite Richard Burton has also given some good performances. The Wild Geese does have an interesting cast, and while they do all give good enough performances, Harris in particular(Stewart Granger I personally found rather bland), all have been better and all have been in much better movies.
A major problem was my difficulty in connecting with the characters, some of them are not well developed much and it doesn't help that the script doesn't do much to make them more engrossing.
To me, the most interesting character was the one played by Hardy Kruger. The story also didn't grab me, the last third was pretty exciting but the first part takes too long to set up and some of the middle does drag.
The script does have some good lines and interplay when the political overtones don't set in that is. The film is to put it kindly a dog's dinner of politics- the liberalism for example is very woolly- and rhetoric and it is even more disappointing that the politics are dated.
I am not saying that the director is not talented, it's just that like the pace the direction feels rather stodgy particularly in the middle. The drama has some poignancy but there are too many times where it all feels rather dull, while the action is well assorted but generally uncompelling.
Are there any redeeming qualities? Yes. The most obvious one is the cast, the three leads look as though they are enjoying themselves, Hardy Kruger does alright as the film's most interesting character and it was nice to see British stalwarts such as Jack Watson, Ronald Fraser and Kenneth Griffith participating. The Wild Geese looks good, with nice cinematography and scenery, and the score at least gives the film some excitement.
All in all, not a terrible film but although I feel I need to re-watch it I am afraid I didn't find it particularly good either despite the cast. 5/10 Bethany Cox
A major problem was my difficulty in connecting with the characters, some of them are not well developed much and it doesn't help that the script doesn't do much to make them more engrossing.
To me, the most interesting character was the one played by Hardy Kruger. The story also didn't grab me, the last third was pretty exciting but the first part takes too long to set up and some of the middle does drag.
The script does have some good lines and interplay when the political overtones don't set in that is. The film is to put it kindly a dog's dinner of politics- the liberalism for example is very woolly- and rhetoric and it is even more disappointing that the politics are dated.
I am not saying that the director is not talented, it's just that like the pace the direction feels rather stodgy particularly in the middle. The drama has some poignancy but there are too many times where it all feels rather dull, while the action is well assorted but generally uncompelling.
Are there any redeeming qualities? Yes. The most obvious one is the cast, the three leads look as though they are enjoying themselves, Hardy Kruger does alright as the film's most interesting character and it was nice to see British stalwarts such as Jack Watson, Ronald Fraser and Kenneth Griffith participating. The Wild Geese looks good, with nice cinematography and scenery, and the score at least gives the film some excitement.
All in all, not a terrible film but although I feel I need to re-watch it I am afraid I didn't find it particularly good either despite the cast. 5/10 Bethany Cox